29 Cheap and Delicious Restaurants in Osaka
Here are famous, cheap, and delicious restaurants you should definitely try while you're in Osaka! Ramen, sushi, udon, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, etc. - all the meals you should try in Osaka can be found on this list. Plus the prices are very reasonable, so if you're in the area and on a budget, you can still enjoy eating your way through the city.
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1. Honmiyake: Steak-don (本みやけ)
This restaurant is popular for its $9 "steak-don," which is a very filling menu of steak sitting on top of rice. Average meal is less than $10.
2. Kougaryu: Takoyaki (甲賀流)
While Osaka has hundreds of takoyaki stands, Kougaryu is one of the ones most often recommended in magazines, television shows, and other media. If you want Osaka's cheap and delicious fast food, you can definitely find it here! Prices are around $3-5.
HP: www.kougaryu.jp/
3. Daruma: Kushikatsu (だるま)
Kushikatsu is a catch-all term for meat, vegetables, and seafood that is pierced on sticks and deep-fried. This store in the Shin-sekai area of Osaka always has a line because it's so popular. Prices are around $10-20.
4. 298: All-You-Can-Eat Yakiniku
This extraordinarily-priced restaurant offers a 90-minute course of all-you-can-eat yakiniku and shabushabu! Prices start at around $10.
HP: 298group.com/
5. Akagakiya: Doteyaki (赤垣屋)
Doteyaki is a dish in which sinewy beef is stewed for a long time in a sauce made of miso and soy sauce. This restaurant is a popular doteyaki restaurant that offers this dish made with rich flavors as well as many other items for only 280 yen. Prices are less than $5.
6. Niku no Marugachi: Horumonyaki (肉の丸勝)
This restaurant serves various grilled pork and beef cuts. They all go perfectly with beer! It sits in one end of the shopping arcade. You should definitely try their horumonyaki. It's very popular with the locals, and many people get take-out. Prices are below $5.
7. Isono Ryoutarou: 100 Yen Kaitenzushi (磯野漁太郎)
This is a kaitenzushi (conveyer belt sushi) restaurant in Nanba. Each plate is 100 yen for 2 pieces, and the most popular lunch course offered only on weekdays includes 8 plates of sushi with a mini-udon for 380 yen! Prices start at $1.
8. Kani Koubou: All-You-Can-Eat Crab (かに工房)
This specialty crab restaurant managed by a marine product company also offers other kinds of seafood, sushi, salad, and dessert for an all-you-can-eat buffet of more than 60 dishes! This restaurant sits on the coast of Kishiwada, a suburb of Osaka. Lunch runs around $25 for 90 minutes for an adult.
2 Chome-2-2, Nakaicho, Kishiwada-shi, Osaka (Google Map)
9. 551 Horai: Butaman (551蓬莱)
This Chinese fast food is known as "nikuman" in Kanto, but "butaman" in Kansai. It's juicy pork wrapped in a fluffy dough bun and steamed. This restaurant also offers other Japanese-style Chinese dishes you can enjoy. Prices are around $5 or less.
10. Unatoto: Eel (宇奈とと)
You can eat unagi-don (eel rice bowl) for just $5 in Osaka! It's a perfect size for small eaters, but for large eaters it might be not be enough, so you can order the Unagi-don W for $10 and get twice the amount! Prices are $10 or less.
HP: www.unatoto.com/
11. Hanshin Meibutsu: Ikayaki (阪神名物)
It's said that Hanshin Hyakkaten sells more than 10,000 ikayaki (grilled squid) in a day. Ikayaki is a simple fast food in which squid is covered in egg and flour and then grilled. This very famous shop sits in the corner of a subway mall and always has a line. Prices are less than $5.
12. Nishiya Soba: Shouga Tempura (浪速そば)
There is a style of restaurants throughout Japan called "tachikui," which si where you stand and eat. This is a tachikui soba restaurant, and the recommended menu is the shouga kakiage udon (or soba). This is definitely something fans of ginger won't be able to get enough of! Prices are around $5.
13. Tonkatsu Taroufuku: Tonkatsu (とんかつ太郎福)
Tonkatsu is a meal where pork is covered in panko and fried. Recently it's become very popular overseas as well but of course if you've come all the way to Japan you'll want to try the real deal. If you want cheap and delicious tonkatsu while you're in Osaka, this is the place to go! Prices are less than $10.
2 Chome-21-8 Tengachaya, Nishinari-ku, Osaka (Google Map)
14. Usanamitei Matsubaya: Kitsune Udon (うさみ亭マツバヤ)
Udon is a traditional noodle dish beloved in Japan since time immemorial, but it's said that kitsune udon, udon with a thick piece of fried tofu on top, was created by this restaurant. Prices are around $10 and below.
15. Kiji: Okonomiyaki (きじ)
If you're going to talk about any fast food that Osaka prides itself on, it's okonomiyaki. Cabbage is added to a mix of wheat flour and water, then fried on a teppan grill and covered with pork, sauce, mayonnaise, bonito flakes, and whatever else you want. In the Umeda area, this restaurant is one of the most popular and famous. Prices begin at around $10.
16. Hokkyosei: Omurice (北極星)
Chicken rice stir-fried with ketchup then wrapped in fluffy eggs and covered with a demi-glace sauce - omurice has become one of Japan's representative home meals. It's said that this restaurant is the one that invented it. It's very popular with foreign tourists! Prices are usually under $10.
HP: hokkyokusei.jp/
17. Osaka Ohsho: Gyoza (大阪王将)
This is one of the major Japanese-style Chinese food restaurants in Osaka, and it's a nationwide franchise that you can find all throughout Japan. The recommendation is the handmade gyoza, and everything they offer is priced reasonably, usually at $10 or less.
HP: www.ohsho.co.jp/
18. Kinryuu Ramen: Ramen
This is a beloved ramen restaurant in the Nanba area. It's a ticket-style restaurant, so you order by getting a ticket from a machine first. We recommend the 600 yen ramen! Prices are below $10.
19. Ajinoya: Yakisoba (味乃家)
This famous okonomiyaki restaurant in Nanba is also well-known for its delicious yakisoba. Prices are below $10.
HP: ajinoya-okonomiyaki.com/top/
20. PAUL: All-You-Can-Eat-Bread Lunch
If you choose the $10 Colors Lunch, then you'll get a main dish plus all-you-can-eat bread and all-you-can-drink! It's a very popular choice among women. Prices are $15 or less.
21. Jiyuuken: Curry (自由軒)
This place offers a curry rice dish that's a little different. In the center of the food they crack open a raw egg, and it's delicious when you mix it with the rice. Prices are under $10.
3 Chome 1-34 Nanba, Chuo-ku, Osaka (Google Map)
22. Bakajikara: Curry Udon (馬鹿力)
Their curry udon is their most recommended meal, made with 20 kinds of spices and thin udon. Prices are less than $10.
5-795 Nakamozucho, Kita-ku, Sakai-shi, Osaka (Google Map)
23. Yamamoto: Negiyaki (やまもと)
Negiyaki is a kind of okonomiyaki where chopped spring onions are added liberally into the batter and once fried, it is then covered in a special sauce. It's said that this restaurant was the one that developed it. Prices are less than $10.
HP: www.negiyaki-yamamoto.com/
24. Tekomai: All-You-Can-Eat-Steak (てこ舞)
This isn't just a reasonably priced steak all-you-can-eat restaurant, there are also all-you-can-drink courses and other teppanyaki all-you-can-eat meals. Prices vary, from $18 or less for men and $15 or less for women.
25. Universal Studios Japan: Butterbeer
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened in Universal Studios Japan in July 2014, and there you can drink butterbeer made from a secret recipe created by J.K. Rowling herself. Price is less than $10.
2 Chome-1-33 Sakurajima, Konohana-ku, Osaka (Google Map)
HP: www.usj.co.jp/
26. Mon Cher: Doujima Roll
This roll cake is a beloved treat in Osaka. The fluffy sponge cake is filled with lots of cream, more than most other roll cakes you can find. Price is around $10-20.
27. Hokkyoku: Homemade Ice Candy (北極)
The ice candy from this veteran shop comes in many different flavors. Milk, red bean, matcha, pineapple, strawberry, etc. - all of these flavors have remained unchanged throughout the years, retaining its popularity. Prices are around $5.
HP: www.hokkyoku.jp/
28. Sennariya Kissaten: Mixed Juice (千成屋珈琲店)
Their mixed juice, made from lots of kinds of fruits, is a drink known to any person from Osaka, and is said that this kissaten is the first shop in Japan to offer such a drink. You should definitely try the deliciousness of mixed juice that can only come from it being handmade!
29. Gozasoro: Taiko Manjuu (御座候)
Taiko manjuu is a traditional sweet where mochi is red bean paste, molded into the shape of a drum, and grilled. You can buy it freshly made at this shop. This well-known shop is often found in the food areas of department stores. Prices are around $5.
The information in this article is accurate at the time of publication.
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